Riesling

I am generally a red wine kind of person, but I find that I almost always enjoy a riesling.

Rieslings from Alsace in particular tend to be winners for me. I'm not sure what it is. They are usually crisp, and mostly dry, and have just enough citrus and petrol to be interesting.

Yes, I said petrol. Weird, isn't it? I wouldn't have known to put my finger on that note if I hadn't read a description of Alsation rieslings and how they tend to taste ever so slightly of petrol. As in, gasoline. But, sure enough, there is just enough of a hint of something, something that isn't fruity, isn't citrus, isn't quite right but also makes the wine taste interesting.

Last night, I made one of my favorite meals from Let's Dish, which is a meal assembly program. My friend Lynne and I have been going there regularly for about a year. You choose from a list of meals each month and then go in and assemble your complete meal at different stations. The food is all natural and the meals go right into the freezer, along with instructions on how to prepare everything when you're ready.

Almond-orange tilapia with almond rice was last night's meal, and it just cried out for a nice, acidic, not-too-fruity-so-it-doesn't-compete-with-the-citrus-in-the-fish wine, and the riesling I had on hand was just the thing.

Good times

My co-blogger, Deanna, invited me and a few other friends to a local fundraisig event that raised money to support her local library. It was a lovely evening. Our event hosts had brought in literary figure impersonators to give presentations in character, so we enjoyed our amazing hors d'ourves in the company of William Shakespeake, Edgar Allen Poe, Dorothy Parker, and Oscar Wilde (who loved my sparkly, fancy shoes). 

We were not shy about enjoying said food, even though we had dinner reservations right after. Dinner was at a lovely Italian restaraunt that felt very grown up. When presented with the wine menu, we knew we wanted to share a bottle and quickly narrowed that down to red. Then, narrowed it further to pinot noir (it's really hard to go wrong with a pinot noir). After that, the price range narrowed it to two bottles, and from there, we randomly picked locale (Santa Barbara, California). 

We chose wisely. The wine was lovely, it was a much better bargain to split a bottle four ways than to each order a separate glass, and there was the added camaraderie that comes with the sharing of wine, much the way the sharing of food is best enjoyed as a communal experience. 

Food and drink are the stuff of life, with friendship a beautiful bonus. 

Snow day

Today is a snow day. I was determined to treat it exactly as such: my plan was to sit around, watch tv, eat cupcakes, drink something yummy, and generally be a slug. After many years in grad school when I never had a true snow day, always being able to do schoolwork from home, and never having a break from the revising, I would dream about what it would be like ONE DAY when I was done with school and could enjoy a snow day properly.

Whenever snow days occur, my Facebook feed floods with posts about how people are stocking up on alcoholic beverages. As someone who did not really drink at all until my thirties, I never understood the draw. Can't you drink beer and wine anytime? Well, not ANY time, but certainly you don't need a special day for it.

As someone who now enjoys wine, I understand a bit more. It's nice to be able to enjoy a glass of wine, or perhaps a splash of bailey's in my coffee, and not have to drive anywhere or have any real responsibilities. 

On my way home one day this week, knowing that the snow day was imminent, I stopped at the local Home Goods looking for a basin for a foot soak to go with the pedicure I was planning, and I noticed a mix for chocolate lavender cake. I love lavendar flavored foods, so I could not resist this. I knew I had my snow day snack food.

This morning, I decided that, in honor of the cupcakes, I would enjoy a dessert wine. I had a few in my cabinet that I wanted to try. One was a port, and another was a wine that I didn't know anything about - I had never tried this one before. I think I bought it on a whim when at the local wine store, lured by their description of it. I can't really remember. 

I first learned about dessert wines several years ago when I ran a 5k at a local winery, and a tasting came as part of the registration fee. Unlimited tasting of all wines was free for runners, except for the port. That was a dollar per tasting. I asked why and was told that ports and dessert wines tend to be a higher alcohol content of regular wine (16-20% as opposed to the 12-13.5% of a regular red), and more goes into making them, so they can't afford to give away the tastings. I asked what you would pair port with, and the lady said that ports are lovely with sweets of any kind, but are especially good with chocolate. Sign me right up.

So, needless to say, I knew a dessert wine would be just the thing to go with those cupcakes and with my lazy day off. 

The cupcakes did not disappoint, and neither did the wine. It's dark brown (which is a bit startling and off putting at first, but it's a characteristic of port-style wines), very sweet, and thick, almost with the consistency of syrup. I would have thought the sweetness would be too much with the sweetness of the dessert, but no. It just works. 

Rutherford Ranch

Chardonnay is not my favorite, but this one from Rutherford Ranch, is lovely. It came as part of a mixed case and is described as a "classic" Chardonnay, "exhibiting rich vanilla-soaked tropical fruits on a medium-body." I didn't see the words "oaky" or "buttery" and I love flavors of vanilla and tropical fruits. 

Plus, tonight I decided to make a new recipe, a red lentil and spinach soup. It seemed to be just the right food pairing for this wine, which is further described as being perfect "for a taste of west coast warmth on a cold winter night." This wine seemed like it would match the heartiness of the soup without being overwhelming, and it did just that.